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Media must help change mindset

For much too long our community has needed a paradigm shift that fundamentally changes the way we see ourselves and what our responsibilities are to the community.

City and suburban residents travel to Webster, Pittsford, Greece, and Henrietta to shop, and then enjoy the city for its cultural events, terrific museums and art galleries, and whatever festival we are hosting that week. The little dots on the map that the government uses to separate Brighton from Rochester, suburbs from city, no longer apply.

We are not separate communities. It's just that large bureaucracies are often the last institutions to acknowledge and adapt to the change. Therefore, it is imperative that media institutions lead that shift that helps us see our community in a new light.

When reporting child poverty statistics or Regents scores, I ask that you report the aggregate for the entire county, not to ameliorate the impact of the reprehensible numbers in the city, but to get all members of the county to start holding themselves accountable.

Reporting it as Rochester's problem, even though that's how the government reports it, lets every other suburb off. As a community, we need to go from, "Oh, isn't that terrible what's happening in the city? Glad it's not my problem," to "Hey, look at these numbers in OUR community. This is unacceptable. What are we going to do about it?"

Please don't dismiss this request as misguided idealism. There is great power in the words we choose. The right words can influence the people in our community who know the truth and are poised for action. But what they need first is a catalyst. Your leadership in this community can help spark us to use the right words that lead to a new vision of ourselves and the problems of child poverty, segregation, and racism.

Daniel Delehanty

Sheppard's the man

Former Rochester Police Chief James Sheppard is running for County Legislature.

Great news! Sheppard always seemed like a top-notch individual, and I was disappointed that he was (by most accounts) forced out of his job as police chief by the Warren administration.

ROCHESTER MUSICIAN

A vote for Dinolfo, if...

Cheryl Dinolfo will make a great county executive if she stands by her promise of eliminating local development corporations and if she starts talking in a very serious manner concerning COMIDA tax breaks and their impact on the area.

CRAIG ROBERT MOFFITT

Applause for climate plan

The City of Rochester is putting together a Climate Action Plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions citywide.

This is pretty awesome, with how the city is formulating more concrete plans toward a more livable city. I've already transitioned to the world of electric bicycles and electric motorcycles, and have my gasoline automobile parked.

I love being able to walk and bike around instead of being stuck in an anger-inducing automobile. My friends aren't fond of using cars to live out their lives, either.

Also, as a college teacher, I very clearly perceive this as being the sort of thing that Rochester SHOULD be doing to stay viable as an attractive place to live for our emerging generation.